"If you pick the perfect candidate like Joe Biden to win that guy in the diner, the cost will make you lose because you will depress turnout as well,” she said. “And that’s exactly what happened to 2016. We picked the logically fitting candidate, but that candidate did not inspire the turnout that we needed.”

Ocasio-Cortez said her “frustration with politics today” stems from candidates' desire to sacrifice the electorate as a whole for “that dude in a diner.”

"Just so that you can get this very specific slice of Trump voters?” she asked.